B’nai B’rith International mourns the loss of Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres, who died on Sept. 27 at the age of 93.

The history of the State of Israel cannot be written without including Peres and his myriad accomplishments during a nearly 70-year career in public service.

Though he retired as president in 2014, he continued to remain a vibrant face of the Jewish state, hosting conferences and meeting with world leaders.

From his early political days as Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Defense in 1952, to his time as the nation’s prime minister (a post he held three times), Peres was a central figure in Israel's political life over a period of nearly seven decades. He was widely respected and well received on the global stage.

His accomplishments include winning the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize when he was Foreign Minister for peace talks that resulted in the Oslo Accords.

We join the people of Israel in mourning his loss. May his memory be a blessing.

​B’nai B’rith International called on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to adopt a working definition of anti-Semitism during its Human Dimension Implementation Meeting today in Warsaw, Poland. Eric Fusfield, deputy director of the B'nai B'rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy, spoke on the global epidemic of anti-Semitism.
 
“The rise of anti-Jewish hatred has...resulted in a proliferation of anti-Semitic propaganda, much of which is directed against the State of Israel. Tragically, the demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish state has become a daily occurrence, as Israel’s enemies repeatedly accuse it of being a Nazi-like occupier and an apartheid state that disenfranchises the Palestinians. Falsehoods about Israel are repeated so often that they become widely accepted in the popular culture and sometimes impact government policy,” Fusfield said.
 
Fusfield noted that, in response to anti-Semitic attacks, about 10,000 Jews emigrated from Western Europe to Israel last year—the highest number the region has ever seen. He also discussed the declining number of European Jews who feel safe practicing their Judaism openly.
 
The task of educating and engaging the public about anti-Semitism necessitates a common definition that clearly illustrates the problem. Following formal approval by the OSCE of such a tool, Fusfield said, the working definition "should then be widely promoted within the OSCE to educate public officials, journalists, and others about the contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism."
 
Fusfield continued, “While much has been done to fight anti-Semitism in the past decade or more, much work remains. The need for practical and effective strategies to combat and defeat this pathology is still crucial.

​A B’nai B’rith International delegation, led by B’nai B’rith President Gary P. Saltzman and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, met with dozens of world leaders during the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York throughout this week. Our delegation included B’nai B’rith volunteers and staff, as well as students and staff from the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (AEPi), a B’nai B’rith partner.

During these meetings, the delegation discussed Iranian support for terrorism, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the rise in global anti-Semitism. Among the dozens of scheduled meetings were discussions with: President of Argentina Mauricio Macri; President of Poland Andrzej Duda; President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Foreign Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault.

“Addressing issues at the United Nations is an important part of our global advocacy on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people. Our meetings with these presidents, foreign ministers, diplomats and ambassadors give us the platform to create an open dialogue that raises awareness of the plight Jews have to face around the world,” B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman said.

On Sept. 22, during his general debate speech Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said, “Israel’s racial discrimination against the Palestinian people has become a daily reality.” 

“Abbas’ rhetoric is deplorable, Palestinians continue to use the United Nations and its agencies to delegitimize Israel at every turn, especially at agencies like UNESCO, the Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “Our efforts at the U.N. this week focused to a large extent on the double standard Israel faces at the world body.”

A number of these meetings, coordinated by B’nai B’rith, also included the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League, the World Jewish Congress and NCSEJ.

B’nai B’rith has been present at the United Nations since its founding. Engaging with world leaders and the United Nations machine is imperative to changing the anti-Israel animus that has become pervasive across the world body.

The B’nai B’rith delegation includes Peter Perlman, chairman of the executive; Sheila Mostyn senior vice president; Stephen Stern, member of the Executive Board of Directors; Michael Nachman, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy board member; Larry Magid, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy board member; Millie Magid, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy board member; and Andy Borans, Board of Governors member and executive director of B’nai B’rith’s partner, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (AEPi). In addition, student participants from AEPi include: Charlie Cohen, Bradley University; Ari Goldstein, Georgetown University; Noah Mikell, University of Minnesota; Ryan Baill, Georgia State University; Josh Friedland, University of Washington; and AEPi staff members David Marias and Jason Selby. B’nai B’rith International Director of U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels and Program Officer for U.N. Affairs Oren Drori are coordinating the meetings. 

​B’nai B’rith has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International has sent disaster relief aid to Baton Rouge, La. to help flash flood victims. In mid-August Baton Rouge, La. received 19 inches of rain, and some other areas of Louisiana got at least 30 inches in one day. Many are calling it the worst natural disaster in the United States since Hurricane Sandy. Thousands of homes, schools and businesses have been destroyed. 

Harold Steinberg, chair of B’nai B’rith International’s Disaster Relief Committee, is representing B’nai B’rith in cleanup activities in conjunction with aid group NECHAMA on Monday and Tuesday. B’nai B’rith presented a check of $15,000 to NECHAMA, to help rebuild not only Baton Rouge, but other areas impacted by a natural disaster. Our donation, along with funds from other donors, will help NECHAMA purchase a supply truck that will be used to bring supplies, tools and other equipment.

We also donated disaster relief funds of $4,400 to the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana (A+PEL) to purchase new school supplies that were destroyed in the floods. B’nai B’rith also donated to A+PEL a selection of books from the B’nai B’rith Diverse Minds Writing Challenge, a contest where high school students write and illustrate children’s books to help elementary school children celebrate tolerance and diversity.
 
B’nai B’rith has regularly provided disaster relief at the local, national and international levels since 1865. In spring of 2016, B’nai B’rith opened a Disaster Relief Fund for the wildfire victims in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada and for the victims of the earthquakes that occurred in Ecuador and Japan.

B’nai B’rith International will meet with dozens of world leaders during the course of the week, on the sidelines of the opening of the United Nations 71st General Assembly. B’nai B’rith President Gary P. Saltzman and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, along with other key B’nai B’rith leaders and staff, will discuss Iranian support for terrorism, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the rise in global anti-Semitism in these meetings.  

A number of the meetings, coordinated by B’nai B’rith, will also include the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League, the World Jewish Congress and NCSEJ.

The B’nai B’rith delegation is meeting with the President of Argentina Mauricio Macri, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Foreign Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault, among many other world leaders throughout the week.

The B’nai B’rith delegation includes Peter Perlman, chairman of the executive; Sheila Mostyn senior vice president; Stephen Stern, member of the Executive Board of Directors; Michael Nachman, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy board member; Larry Magid, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy board member; Millie Magid, International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy board member; and Andy Borans, Board of Governors member and executive director of B’nai B’rith’s partner, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (AEPi). In addition, student participants from AEPi include: Charlie Cohen, Bradley University; Ari Goldstein, Georgetown University; Noah Mikell, University of Minnesota; Ryan Baill, Georgia State University; Josh Friedland, University of Washington; and AEPi staff members David Marias and Jason Selby. B’nai B’rith International Director of U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels and Program Officer for U.N. Affairs Oren Drori are coordinating the meetings. 

B’nai B’rith Young Professionals in Europe were treated to a perfect summers’ day in London’s Regents Park at this year’s annual Klezmer in the Park festival, organized by the Jewish Music Institute on Sept. 11.
 
B’nai B’rith Young Professionals enjoyed a free Moroccan Bazaar-style picnic as they chilled to the tunes and feel-good vibes in the sun. This year’s lineup featured Lorin Sklamberg and the London Klezmer Allstars, followed by The Turbans, The London Bulgarian Choir and Simo Lagnawi, plus a guembri player and Gnawa master.
 
A few young families, who had made their way from the Kids’ Zone in the main tent, stopped by to socialize, listen to the music and enjoy some food. More than 75 people came to the B’nai B’rith picnic area to enjoy good company and learn more about the organization.

The environment has been central to Judaism since Genesis. Due to rising temperatures around the world, climate change has become a much more pressing issue. In response, organized Judaism and Jewish environmentalist groups have worked actively to address the issue and attempt to stop global warming.
 
Also featured in this issue: In 1939 German Jewish refugees, then regarded as “enemy aliens,” were confined on the British Isle of Man.  Yet, culture and education thrived within the camps on the island. As the war went on, the internees were released and allowed to join the war effort to defeat fascism.
 
Elsewhere in the magazine: In the 1970s, Richard Bernstein, was one of a small number of blind boys becoming a bar mitzvah in the United States. In the years since, there have been efforts to make Judaism more accommodating for the sight-impaired, included a phone line providing times for candle lighting and for reciting specific prayers. Still, there is much work to be done.
 
On the other side of the world, there has been a Jewish presence in India for more than 2,000 years. Although the population has a rich history, there are now only about 5,000 Jews in the nation of 1.25 billion. However, the community continues, despite its dwindling numbers.
 
In his latest column, B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman calls for greater civility in the nation. Now more than ever, it is time that tolerance and kindness return to the national conservation.
 
B’nai B’rith Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin dedicates his column to the importance of voting and discusses how politics played an important role in his life.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International is appalled, but sadly unsurprised, by the latest expression of bigotry against the world's only Jewish state—and indifference to the lives of its citizens of all backgrounds—by two "ecumenical" groups with a long history of finding in agitation against Israel a convenient rallying cause and springboard for greater public visibility.
 
The Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC) and the New York-based National Council of Churches (NCC) held a joint "consultation" this week near Washington, D.C., ostensibly intended to mobilize on promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace. But the groups made overt their utter disinterest in balance, nuance and constructiveness, preferring instead to find a scapegoat for continued conflict in Israel, the Middle East's sole democracy and a rare regional country home to continuously growing Christian and other minority populations.
 
The WCC and NCC— which clearly do not represent all Christians, many of whom see care for Jews and Israelis as vital, not antithetical, to advancing peace and justice—know that their continued anti-Israel agitation will not result in adverse effects for Christian inhabitants of and visitors to that country.
 
Conversely, the embracing of vicious anti-Israel dogma is considered all too obligatory in many Middle Eastern and other states, not least those home to vulnerable Christians. Thus, a small number of Christian organizations apparently see fit to join in unjustly and obsessively attacking Israel while remaining quiet on the records of so many counterparts, in the region and beyond, with immeasurably less honorable records in making sacrifices for peace and upholding human rights.
 
A statement by the heads of the WCC and NCC, issued after their consultation, asserted that "no people should be denied their rights for generations" and that Israel "has commanding power... and, thus, bears special responsibility for taking the initiative" to achieve peace. It also singled out the United States with a specific call to curb vital defense aid to Israel and to ensure impunity for campaigns urging economic discrimination "to influence policy in Israel." 
 
No similar pressure tactics were advocated— and no specific criticism or demands were leveled—at any Arab government or group, or their backers. Israelis are not seen among those denied rights, and the dozens of Muslim states, let alone violent non-state actors answerable to no one, are not seen to wield any power or serious obligations.
 
By maintaining this posture of double standards and one-way vilification, the WCC and NCC have again shown themselves to be unprepared to contribute to actual peacemaking—and complicit in morally corrupt efforts to isolate, demonize and harm the world's only Jewish country.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith commends the United States and Israel for finalizing a military aid deal for the next decade. The landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which speaks to the close security cooperation between the two countries, will provide Israel with a total of $38 billion. This amounts to a pledge of about $3.8 billion a year to the Jewish state, starting in 2019 and concluding in 2028.
 
This largest-ever U.S. aid package demonstrates the strong bipartisan support Israel enjoys in the United States, as it was negotiated by the administration and backed by a majority of Senate and House members of both parties. The MOU signals America’s commitment to Israel’s security at time of instability in a hostile Middle East.
 
As a result of the MOU, America’s most reliable democratic ally in the Middle East will become better equipped to defend itself against the unprecedented threats it faces from authoritarian regimes and terrorist organizations. The agreement represents an important investment not only in Israel’s security, but in U.S. national security interests.

Ambassadors from Israel and Spain Offer Analysis of 30 Years of Relations Between their Countries
​

​B’nai B’rith International members and supporters from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C., Sept. 10 to 12 to learn how B’nai B’rith is at the forefront of today’s most pressing issues; engaging with high-level speakers on topics such as Israel-Spain relations, the rise of global anti-Semitism, immigration and Social Security; and making their voices heard on all things related to B’nai B’rith’s global agenda.
 
One of the most anticipated programs of the Leadership Forum was a special edition of the B’nai B’rith Diplomatic Encounter Series. Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and Spanish Ambassador Ramón Gil-Casares discussed the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Israel and Spain. In the diplomatic encounter series, B’nai B’rith regularly brings together diplomats and Washington policy experts for conversations with ambassadors on domestic and foreign policy issues.
 
On opening night of the 2016 Leadership Forum, B’nai B’rith President Gary P. Saltzman delivered his State of the Organization address. He detailed many of the programs and priorities of the 172-year-old organization, highlighting a long history on international human rights issues, a long-standing and steadfast support of Israel, B’nai B’rith’s commitment to safe and affordable housing for seniors and disaster relief efforts that date to 1865. 

​The forum’s first featured guest was Pamela Nadell, Ph.D., professor, department chair of history and director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University on the history of Jewish women and American politics. She stated that the turning point for women becoming involved in politics occurred at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in honor of Christopher Columbus’ 400th anniversary of his expedition to the new world. The exposition held more than 400 congresses on various subjects including religion. A board of “lady managers” was created to make “certain that women were represented throughout the congress.”
 
Nadell spoke of Hannah Greenebaum Solomon who took charge of reaching out to different congregations all across the United States, and about two dozen women, over the course of four days, spoke at the exposition. “These women showed that they were experts on Judaism, they were special experts on the history of Jewish women, but they were also discussing contemporary Jewish affairs, they talked about the influx of immigrants coming in, this is 1893 eastern European Jews had been pouring in since the pogroms of 1881, they talked about the worldwide specter of anti-Semitism…,” said Nadell. This led to the creation of the National Council of Jewish Women, which advocates for social justice and other rights pertaining to women.
 
On the second day of the forum, during his opening address, B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin tackled the issue of global anti-Semitism. He began his remarks by reading anti-Semitic college application and hotel rejection letters from the 1940s-1960s from the B’nai B’rith archives, as well as his own experiences encountering anti-Semitism. Then, enumerating the challenges of contemporary anti-Semitism, he conveyed his concerns over the BDS movement, and expressions of anti-Semitism originating in the Middle East and Europe. He also cited the U.N. as a deep source of concern, noting United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s executive board recent resolution which substituted the Temple Mount with its Arabic/Islamic name, “Haram Al Sharif.” The same resolution also replaced the name of the Western Wall Plaza with “Al-Buraq Plaza.”  He also mentioned a recent World Health Organization resolution that also unfairly singled out Israel for denying healthcare to Palestinians in the territories.
 
“Each of us can play a role in combating anti-Semitism, through support for B’nai B’rith, an organization that advocates on behalf of our community interest, also by communicating with our elected officials up to the highest echelon, advocating where we can within our constitutional framework, hate crime legislation, monitoring newspapers and websites for anti-Semitic utterances, and by speaking with our neighbors and colleagues at work about Israel, and about pernicious charges against it and the Jewish people,” Mariaschin said.

​A town hall meeting on the second day of the forum included a broad discussion of B’nai B’rith’s international policies on the global and domestic fronts. Mariaschin served as the moderator of the panel that featured Director of Legislative Affairs Eric Fusfield, Esq.; Director of Latin America Affairs Eduardo Kohn, Ph.D.; Director of U.N. Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels; and Director of B’nai B’rith World Center – Jerusalem Alan Schneider. The panel discussed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s adoption of a working definition of anti-Semitism, Iran’s relationship with Latin American countries and the dangers it poses, the United Nations’ “High Level Forum on Global Antisemitism” and the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust.
 
A second town hall session, on domestic issues, included Mariaschin moderating and Fusfield again, along with Director of Aging and Health Policy Rachel Goldberg, Ph.D. Goldberg addressed concerns on how the upcoming presidential election will affect Social Security; however, she assured the audience that both candidates currently don’t want to cut the program. Fusfield spoke on the candidates’ positions on gun control and their immigration policies.
 
During lunch, Washington Post opinion writer, Charles Lane, shared his thoughts on the 2016 presidential election, offering his “view from the front lines,” and answered attendees' questions. That afternoon Senior Director for European Affairs Charles Kupchan, D.Phil. spoke on the current challenges facing Europe.
 
On the last day of the forum, B’nai B’rith had the opportunity to engage on the topic of free speech and social media. Featured speakers Nikki Usher, Ph.D., assistant professor at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs and Neil Potts, Esq., public policy manager of Facebook led a fascinating and lively discussion on how people use social media, to spread information as well as hate and fear.